


You Are A Journey

by sergeant_angel



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: F/F, Pride Parades, dedicated to everyone who is still learning who they are, happy pride!, i started rewatching sense8 so that's all i have to say for myself, kate loves her space girlfriend, learning who you are isn't a destination it's something you're constantly in pursuit of, nebula tries to figure out why earth people are so small minded, pride month, which is all of us
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 11:38:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14933531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sergeant_angel/pseuds/sergeant_angel
Summary: There are a lot of things Nebula doesn't get about earth, but that's okay.At least this one comes with bright colors and fried foods.(or, Kate asks Nebula to go to Pride with her)





	You Are A Journey

Earth is a strange place.

There's the transportation, and the food, and the casual way there are so many people with terrifying special abilities just walking around—not even people who have been mechanically enhanced, like Nebula! People who were just born with the ability to read minds or manipulate metal or set things on fire (she likes Pyro. He is her favorite human, next to Kate. And after Tony. Before Quill, though.)

Parades are strange. Festivals are strange, too, but mostly because Nebula has only ever heard of them, not seen them. People have festivals out in the great wide universe, but when the man who raised you was a genocidal maniac who tortured you and your sister, you don't get to go to a lot of festivals. 

So fried food is new, strange, and delicious.  

"It's a parade for us?" Nebula asks. She knows it isn't, not  _exactly_ , but she likes the way asking questions like that makes Billy's eye twitch, and even more how Kate will patiently explain what is happening. Sometimes Kate gets frustrated with Nebula's questions, but it's never  _at Nebula,_ it is Kate getting frustrated with herself and how she can't explain it in a way Nebula understands. 

Nebula realizes it might be mean to like something like that, but when she'd brought it up to Gamora, her sister had just shrugged and said that it was probably because they grew up with someone who would hurt them if they didn't understand something. It made sense. But then Gamora had gotten all gooey-eyed about Quill and how he's the same with her and Nebula loves her sister and tolerates Quill but she does  _not_ need to know all that. 

Gross.

"It's Pride!" Kate answers before Billy can. "It's celebrating people who aren't straight."

"Right. I remember now." 

 _Straight_ was a hard concept to get, as were the Terran notions of gender. Nebula still isn't clear on all of them, and some of it is confusing—why do so many people  _care_ if people who are in love both identify as the gender female? Or no gender at all? Is it so strange to think that someone does not belong in the body they have?

That one is very strange for Nebula. (she once said that it was very strange and small-minded, and Kate had beamed at her and kissed her cheek in front of everyone. Nebula had liked the kiss, but wasn't so sure why she'd gotten it for simply being a logical person.) Nebula often feels at odds with the mechanical parts of her body, but Shuri (who is a princess but not of New York) has been helping Nebula with repairs and replacements and slowly but surely she is beginning to feel like her body is the  _right_ one. 

(Shuri is coming, too. Shuri was only allowed to come because T'Challa found out that Nebula would be on the float as well, and he knows that Nebula will kill anyone who tries to harm Shuri or her girlfriend.

Nebula does not remember Shuri's girlfriend's name, but Kate will know it.)

But on Terra, everyone requires a label of some sort. Nebula doesn't know why, but in some ways it's nice to be able to pick up a word, shake it out, and decide that it fits. Kate, for example, likes the way  _bisexual_ fits more than  _pansexual_ , but she can wear both. Nebula likes  _pan_  because it reminds her of making breakfast in the mornings with Kate, how sometimes Gamora will come over and join them and it's like being a family. (Nebula knows that is not what the word means, it is just why she likes it more.)

Kate holds up a tube of something next to Nebula's cheek. 

"What do you think?" She asks. "Does it match?"

Billy looks over. "It's exact. That's amazing."

"What?" Nebula jerks back. "Why?"

"You'll see!" Kate disappears into the bathroom. "Billy, where's the glitter?"

"In your purse!"

"Oh. Right."

Billy gives Nebula a look she is not certain she likes. "Did you want some glitter, Nebula?"

Nebula thinks about this. "Why?"

"Because it's Pride. People wear glitter because it's fun and funky and it's a chance to not be afraid of being who we really are."

"And who we really are is people who wear glitter?" Nebula thinks about it some more. "Fine. I will wear glitter."

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Billy doesn't sound alarmed, like he often does when she speaks to him. He sounds very gentle and very kind. 

"I like glitter. I've never worn it before."

"Well, if you decide you don't like it, it'll definitely rub off before the day is over," Billy assures her, and then he helps her put it on. 

"Oh my  _god_ ," Kate emerges from the bathroom. "You look like someone literally took a piece of the night sky and made it into a person, if the night sky was a thousand percent gayer."

"What are you talking about?" Billy snaps. "The night sky is the gayest thing there is. Come here, you're not glittery enough."

Kate proceeds to also get glittered, and Nebula has a chance to see why she disappeared into the bathroom. 

Kate has painted the bi flag on her cheek, pink and purple and blue—the blue that matches Nebula's skin.

She feels a quiet hum of contentment work its way through her machinery. 

(Nebula barely stands out at Pride. There are so many colors everywhere, so many people dressed in glitter and wigs and leather.

Kate doesn't hold her hand the entire time, but it's okay, because whenever Nebula reaches for her, she's there.)


End file.
